The holiday frenzy is finally over and some of you may be sitting on the couch looking like Mad Dog because you’ve 1) Overspent or 2) You’ve gone into debt all because of the holidays.
But guess what?
There’s no judgment here. I know exactly how you feel because I used to do the same thang year after year. Spend more money than I had just to prove points to myself — because honestly, no one else really cared.
Want to know how I know they didn’t care? Well, I learned how much they didn’t care when I finally just stopped worrying about getting gifts for folks, that’s how.
No one said a peep about it and I’ve since gotten comfortable in my new-found role of the Toya that doesn’t buy many Christmas gifts. Now, don’t get me wrong. I do still purchase some holiday gifts, but they are mostly for my kids.
So today I want to share with you three easy ways to bounce back from holiday overspending. Take the L this year and get ready to make some changes so you’ll be in a better financial position next year.
Let’s get into it….
Access The Damage
The first thing you need to do is access the damage. I know you might not be in the mood to have a come to Jesus moment, but the sooner you get that out of the way the better it will turn out for you.
To do this just grab all of your credit card statements, bank statements, and gifts. You want to look for all holiday-related purchases and highlight them.
Make sure you include things like those matching pajamas you picked up from Target, airline tickets, gas, food, party expenses…all holiday things.
Pay it off or Stack it up
The second step is to pay it off or stack it up. I’ll explain…
If you went into debt during the holidays, you want to pay the least amount of interest on your holiday as possible. If you’re slow to move when it comes to paying off those credit cards, you might just end up paying for last year’s holiday during the next holiday season. Plus, you’ll be paying interest on stuff that’s probably lying around in a landfill.
So, you need to make a plan to pay off any debt you’ve acquired as soon as possible. Take on a side hustle to make extra money. Grab a couple of extra hours at work or get a part-time job. Use the money you earn to throw everything at this year’s “holi-debt” so you will be free to make better decisions going forward.
Now, if you didn’t go into debt and simply overspent, you need to make a plan to stack it up aka save some money. Why? Well, that moves me into my third easy way to bounce back from holiday spending…
Create next year’s budget to prevent holiday overspending
Start working on the next holiday now. By creating a budget for next year’s holiday, you can properly prepare when it comes to saving. See, the reason why you probably overspent this year is that you didn’t tell yourself how much you can spend.
When you tell yourself how much to spend, you can make a plan to save it throughout the year.
I do this every year. I create a budget and I start saving immediately after Christmas is over. When everyone else is holiday shopping in November and December, I’m sitting in the house chilling because I’ve finished my shopping long before summer even ends.
Having a budget and savings plan allows me to shop ahead of the holiday season so I’m not out here fighting people over toys and stuff. I highly suggest you giving it a try. It makes for a much more peaceful holiday season in my opinion.
Wrapping Thangs Up
As I wrap this up here, I want to suggest one additional way you can bounce back on any day, regardless of whatever consumer spending season we are in — invest less in stuff and invest more in you.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it means stop spending all of your money on material items that have no return. Invest in something that will make huge returns in your future.
For example, you’re reading this and that’s a great start! Continue working on building up your financial knowledge. Invest in a financial coach to help you flesh out your financial goals, create a plan, and hold you accountable.
There are so many ways to bounce back from less than desirable financial conditions. The most important thing you need to remember is that you just need to make a decision and start taking action.
Did you overspend this holiday? Which of these three easy ways do you think will help you bounce back?